It’s A Jonas Brothers World — We Just Live In It
August 12, 2008 by Danny
Well, one thing is for sure this summer – this is a Jonas’ Brothers World, we just live in it!
The much anticipated third album from the trio, A Little Bit Longer is out today and get ready for a Jonas Brothers media overload! These three home-schooled brothers are part of Disney’s new-wave Mickey Mouse Club, along with Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers are everywhere now. Of course, we can only imagine what kinds of stories we’ll be reading about them on Perez Hilton five years from now!
Though the Jonas Brothers have stolen the hearts of millions of young girls across America, they also have a penchant for making fans of all ages. In fact, you’ll probably find yourself jamming along to new songs on this album like “B.B. Good” and “Shelf” until you realized that you look like a pre-teen girl singing along to the Jonas Brothers in your car!
Musically, the Jonas Brothers have nailed a great sound – riffing off of synth-pop bands of the 80s to power-pop ballads of emo bands of the 90s. Lyrically, however, the Jonas Brothers are speaking directly to their young female fans. One fun game to play is counting how many times you hear the word ‘baby’ – extra points for baby girl. That said, however, the title track of the album, A Little Bit Longer, is referring to Nick Jonas’ recent diagnosis as a diabetic. There really is something for everyone on this album
Check them out! If you haven’t already!
Bernie Mac, R.I.P. King of Comedy
August 9, 2008 by Bob
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Feel the Pulse of … Swedish Pop Rock
August 6, 2008 by S C
An open invitation to indie rock fans everywhere:
From one music fan to another, it is my duty to share with you a trend that I have noticed slowly building on the indie rock scene over the past 12 months – it is my sinking suspicion that there is something extra-specially wonderful going on in Sweden! Maybe it’s all Mamma Mia’s fault with the resurgence of ABBA in popular culture or perhaps I am having sub-conscious Ace of Base cravings but - for the last year, it seems that our Scandinavian friends have been responsible for some of the hottest burgeoning acts in rock & pop music today!
The CD rotation here at Tower Records has been paralyzed with blue-and-yellow sound and every new group I discover on either Myspace or IMEEM hail from Borlange, Gothenburg or Jönköping. So, being a music fan in today’s blog-logical world, I wanted to share a few of the personal favorites from the Tower Records Indie Music team.
Somewhere between The Beach Boys and Daft Punk exist Gothenburg’s Pacific!, the electronica duo whose debut album hit U.S soil this past July.
The first of several Swedish acts brought to you by Indie wonderkids Mute Records, this garage band sounds like they have taken an overdose of CCR and electric-era Bob Dylan. For those of us who like that sort of thing, this is a fantastic record.
Another gem from Mute, this often-enormous ensemble of musicians deliver what they describe as “happy pop songs” — including a hilarious take on the Britney Spears head-shaving, tattoo parlor trolling incident of last year.
The Radio Dept. - Freddy and the Trojan HorseDreamy and kind of sad, the melodic synth sound of The Radio Dept. may not appeal to the hard rockers in the audience, but for those of us who adore OMD and New Order, I highly recommend giving their discography a spin.
The Sounds - Dying to Say this to YouWhile this album has been out for a little while, this Swedish pop group are just starting to garner major buzz in America - owing success to their track “Tony the Beat” being featuring on the soundtrack for the hit move “Music and Lyrics.” A thoroughly enjoyable retro ride, the vocals will remind you of your favorite Missing Persons track.
Interested enough to listen to a few songs? We have lovingly prepared a new IMEEM playlist, containing the tracks above and many more Swedish pop / rock tracks that we recommend. Enjoy!
- Sabrina, Tower Records Music Team
The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow… But I Don’t Care!
August 4, 2008 by towerblog
Who can forget when orphan Annie sang, “Tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…there’ll be suuuuuuun!?” Or maybe you choose to forget…
The point is: tomorrow a bunch of Blu-ray titles are gonna be released and even if it’s sunny, stay inside and check out these awesome films. Starship Troopers and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is coming out.
Here’s an idea: Make a day of sci-fi on Blu-ray! After watching the ST series, check out Keifer Sutherland in the sci-fi noir Dark City. Or Doomsday where Scotland is infected with a plague, and a wall is built around the city to prevent the plague from spreading. Thirty years later, after it is believed everyone is dead, the walls are torn down and there are humans still alive. It’s got the gore, the action and the humor – what more could you want!?
Blu-ray does an incredible job releasing an array of genres. Move seamlessly from sci-fi to concert series with Martin Scorsese’s film on the Rolling Stones, Shine A Light and Korn’s Live at Montreux will have your neighbor’s either loving or hating you when you turn up the volume…
Academy Award winning film Counterfeiters is also out this week, a film about a man who is imprisoned by the Nazis and exchanges his knowledge of counterfeiting bank notes to live in relative comfort at a concentration camp. Ultimately, he ends up helping to fund the Nazi movement.
Actually, there’s something for everyone. Nim’s Island for kids of all ages is also being released. Cutie-pie Abigail Breslin plays Nim who lives on a deserted island with her brother and scientist dad. When her brother goes missing, Nim asks for help from her favorite adventure author (played by Jodie Foster) and the rest you’ll just have to watch the film to see what happens!
The Final Countdown: Breaking Dawn Is Nearly Here
July 29, 2008 by Danny
Less than one week from now, you may hear a very loud and collective sigh of relief. Fans of the Twilight novel series will finally stop holding their breaths waiting for the fourth installment of this popular vampire-romance young adult fiction written by Stephenie Meyer. Breaking Dawn will be released August 2, 2008.
Recap: the previous three books have focused on protagonist Isabella (known as Bella) as she falls in love with a curious and mysterious young boy named Edward, who just happens to be a vampire. Don’t be scared: Edward is a new-wave vampire, he only drinks animal blood, not human. In the first book, Twilight, Bella and Edward start to develop their relationship amidst growing tension from other vampire clans.
The second novel in the series, New Moon, introduces the new and loveable character of Jacob Black, who was born a werewolf. Bella befriends Jacob and they become instant BFFs. More romantic drama with Edward, and more of the good stuff. I don’t want to give too much away.
Number three – Eclipse. Bella finds out that you can’t date a vampire and be BFFs with a werewolf – apart from popular belief. Not only are these books fun to read, they’re full of useful tips. I know now to never invite my vampire friends and werewolf friends to the same party! Stephenie Meyer was really looking out for me there! Anyway, Bella has to choose between her vampire lover and werewolf friend - I’m not going to tell you who she chose – but let’s just say the other person is reeeally upset.
AND NOW! The New Upcoming Release: Breaking Dawn
What to expect? It’s hard to say. One thing is for sure: the book will be a lot of fun to read. Meyer has been pretty tight-lipped about the latest installment, but we do know that the first chapter is entitled “Engagement” AKA somebody’s getting married!!
The coolest part of this series is that Stephenie Meyer’s includes playlists to go along with while you’re reading the series. Isn’t that dreamy!? Some of the artists in the playlists include: Muse, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Armor for Sleep and Travis, to name just a few.
